BoxNation Update; Smith Brothers Tripleheader is Set

Liverpool’s famous boxing brothers Paul, Stephen and Liam Smith will be out to create British boxing history on Saturday 7th December at the Liverpool Echo Arena when they become the first ever trio of siblings to defend their Lonsdale belts on one show.

Liam’s fantastic win over Erick Ochieng to claim the British Light-Middleweight title last Saturday night meant that he joined his brothers Paul, the two-time British Super-Middleweight Champion, and Stephen, the British Super-Featherweight Champion, to become the first brothers ever to hold British titles simultaneously.

Considering that boxing’s great family names like the Turpins (Randolph, Dick and Jackie), McKenzies (Duke, Clinton and Winston) and the Eubanks (Chris, Peter and Simon) didn’t achieve the feat makes it all the more remarkable and may not be repeated for a long time.

Promoter Frank Warren will now stage a history making show featuring the Smiths all defending their British titles on one big night of boxing in their home city - which will be televised live and exclusive on the Channel of Champions BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch. 546) - with the supremely talent Paul Butler from Ellesmere Port defending his British and Commonwealth Super-Flyweight titles.

Paul, who defeated rival Tony Dodson in June this year to win the vacant belt, will make the first defence in his second reign as champion against Accrington’s Luke Blackledge. He said, “It’s incredible that we are all holding British titles at the same time, it’s not something that we set out to do, but it’s unbelievable that we are now all holding prestigious Lonsdale belts. As the eldest brother I’m so proud of what Stephen and Liam have achieved. Personally, I’m proud to hold my British Super-Middleweight title again it’s a beautiful belt and now I’ve got to defend it against a tough challenger in Blackwell on a very special night.”

Stephen won his title with arguably the best punch seen in a British ring this year when he knocked clean out then champion Gary Buckland with one perfectly timed uppercut. He said, “To think that three brothers could hold British titles at the same time would be a stretch seeing that British boxing’s great family names like the Turpins, McKenzies and Eubanks didn’t do it. It’s fantastic that we’ll be in the sporting history books as the first ever brothers to all hold British titles. Now it’s back to business in the gym and we’ve all got to retain our titles at the Echo Arena which will create even more history!”

Liam’s fight against Ochieng was a furious, all-action, affair and now he’s focused on making a quick first defence. He said, “Beating Ochieng on Saturday and holding the Lonsdale belt felt like I had won the world title on the night. I’m so proud of my brothers and we’ve all stuck together through thick and thin to now be British champions. It’s all about hard graft and dedication and we’ve shown that. We all want the best for each other and now it’s about retaining our titles at the Echo Arena and then moving on to world titles.”

Hall Of Fame Promoter Warren, who’s now into his fourth decade in the sport, said, “It’s a remarkable achievement for three brothers to be British champions at the same time and I can’t see it being repeated again in the near future. I’ve managed Paul, Stephen and Liam throughout their careers and I’m delighted to now put them on one big show all defending their titles on one big history-making night of boxing. With the sensational Paul Butler also defending his British and Commonwealth titles on the card and backed-up with a talent packed undercard, it’s going to be a very special event for Liverpool.”

TICKETS

Tickets will be go on sale on Saturday 28th September at 10am, priced at £40, £50, £70, £100 & £150, and are available from:

The Channel Of Champions, BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch. 546), is delighted to announce that it will show the year’s biggest heavyweight fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin live and exclusive in the UK.

Klitschko, regarded as the world’s best heavyweight, puts his WBO/IBF/WBA Super/IBO World titles on the line in his hardest and riskiest fight to date against the undefeated challenger Povetkin, who holds the regular WBA world title, on Saturday 5th October at the Olimpyskiy Arena in Moscow.

Not only does it pit two world champions against each other, but two Olympic Champions with Klitschko winning gold for Ukraine in 1996 and Povetkin capturing gold for Russia in 2004.

Such was the demand to stage the fight, a Russian promoter bid an incredible $23.3m, the third largest ever winning purse bid, to ensure that the fight went on in the Russian capital.

Along with brother Vitali, Wladimir has been the decades most dominant heavyweight, seeing off all challengers put before him. A near 17-year career has seen him win 60 out of 63 fights, with an amazing 51 knockouts in two reigns as world champion and unifying the belts. If he defeats Povetkin he will go into second place as the longest reigning heavyweight world champion in history, passing the great Larry Holmes with only the legendary Joe Louis ahead of him.

Hammer-fisted Povetkin has won all 26 of his fights with 18 coming by knockout. He smashed Andrzej Wawrzyk inside three rounds in May to defend his title for the fourth time and prior to that he destroyed former world champion Hasim Rahman in two. Many believe Povetkin will be the man to end the Klitschkos’ grip of boxing’s flagship division.

BoxNation General Manager, Jim McMunn, said “Kitschko v Povetkin is by far the most exciting heavyweight contest out there bar none. We were determined to have it on BoxNation and again we have delivered. A few weeks ago BoxNation brought you the greatest boxer in the world with Floyd Mayweather and now it is the world's greatest heavyweight in Wladimir Klitschko. Povetkin is a serious challenger and this is undoubtedly the biggest heavyweight battle of 2013. I know our viewers will absolutely love it.”

The BoxNation show will also feature the European Cruiserweight clash between Mateusz Masternak and Grigory Drozd; former WBA World Heavyweight Champion Ruslan Chagaev against Juvo Pudar for the PABA Heavyweight title; Russian cruiserweight prospect Rakhim Chakhkiev, plus the fast-rising Russian talent Fedor Chudinov.

Klitschko v Povetkin is live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch. 546) on Saturday 5th October from 8pm. Join at www.boxnation.com